Preoccupate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To occupy or engross the mind in advance, causing one to be absorbed by something before it happens
2. To fill one's thoughts ahead of time with a concern or matter, leaving little room for other considerations
3. To seize the attention or thoughts of someone beforehand, making them preoccupied with what is to come

Etymology: "Preoccupate" is a tidy example of English borrowing a Latin form whole. It comes from the past participle stem of Latin "praeoccupare," which combined "prae-" (before) with "occupare" (to seize or take possession of). The literal sense is to take something before someone else can, which is the same idea that later powered the English "preoccupy." The word is effectively a doublet of "preoccupy": both descend from the same Latin verb, but "preoccupate" came into English as a direct borrowing of the participial stem, while "preoccupy" arrived by a more ordinary route. Because the two forms split off from one source, they now sit side by side with overlapping but distinct uses, which is why a reader may meet one and not the other.

Synonyms: preoccupy